


Secret Of Survival

by Axis_intercept



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: M/M, Male Pyro, Team Fortress 2 - Freeform, Zombie Apocalypse, tf2 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 16:06:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6290977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axis_intercept/pseuds/Axis_intercept
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follows the members of the RED team as they struggle to survive in the apocalypse. </p><p>This fanfic takes place in a modern apocalyptic setting. Ships included Pyro/Medic, Helmet Party (hinted). Contains graphic character deaths, violence, gore, suicide<br/>Slight OOC</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secret Of Survival

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to make Pyro's speech as legible as possible. There might also be some inconsistencies with the way his words are spelled but they mean the same.

The weather was cold and wet. The three men trudged on through the remains of what used to be a bustling city. Heavy led them on while Medic brought up the rear. Pyro just walked between them, more silent then he had ever been. No one bothered asking him about his troubles, for they were all in the same boat. They had all suffered through this together only to end up losing two thirds of their original team of nine in just a year and a bit. The most recent of the casualties had been Dell, the engineer, who had finally collapsed after witnessing the of his good friend Soldier. Seeing him ripped to shreds by a horde of mutants was the nail in the coffin for Dell, who ended it one night by blowing his brains out. 

Demo and Sniper perished when the van they were driving got ambushed by hunters and drove off the road into a tree. The supply of gunpowder and alcohol were easy fuel for a fire to start and within thirty seconds the vehicle vas engulfed in flames. Scout was the first to go and Spy had all but vanished. Being in an isolated area surrounded by desert land for the most part, they had not been notified about what was happening to the rest of the world. When the infection had reached them, they made a collective decision to leave and that is how they found themselves in this mess.

The sky above them was getting dark and thick, heavy rain clouds were closing in. This was not good news. Heavy slowed his pace and turned to Medic, put a reassuring hand on his shoulder but didn't say anything. It was only once rain began to fall that the doctor broke the silence.

"Ve should seek shelter." He didn't even look up as he spoke.

At the mention of shelter, Pyro seemed to perk up a bit and stuck closer to Medic than before. The Russian simply nodded at Medic's statement.

 

\------------------——

The rain was falling heavier by the minute as the three survivors scurried into a house. The place was practically empty save for the few surviving artifacts that remained of the family that had once called this place home. The trio quickly scanned each room for signs of danger or indications that someone had already set up camp. 

Pyro searched the basement. The floor was soaking wet, probably had about a centimeter of water covering it. He heard a creaking sound coming from a room at the far end of the house as well as a faint buzzing. Grabbing his axe, he slowly moved towards it, gripped the handle, opened the door and let out a muffled scream of shock backing up and knocking over a pile of boxes making a loud wet thud as they hit the ground. 

"Pyro!" Medic came running down the stairs followed by Heavy. 

Both were instantly hit by the horrid smell of the place. It made Heavy feel sick and the doctor back away slightly.No doubt the firestarter’s mask had shielded him from it. 

They stared into the room. Their expressions riddled with disgust at the scene that lay before them. Sprawled out on the floor, were the bodies of what appeared to be three children, a woman and a man. All were bathing in a pool of blood. There were a few flies, some alive, others drowning in the puddles of rotting flesh and bloody, watery ooze. One of the bodies, a child seemed to be shaking. Heavy noticed this and called out to it softly. 

"Hello? Do you need help?" He said trying to sound comforting, yet keeping his distance. 

To this, the child slowly turned its head to face him. It turned it almost 360 degrees the flesh ripping and vertebrae cracking audibly. 

"Mein gott." Sighed Medic as he stared at the little one's features. Any other day, he would have found it fascinating but this time, it was just too much. 

It was no child, at least, not anymore. Where it's eyes had once been now we're just dark caverns as well as the skin on its face and body starting to peel off leaving patches of exposed dark, purple-green flesh. This being a result of the water it had been lying in no doubt. The constant exposure to it must have made the corpses rot. A little white maggot wriggled it’s way out from under the creatures finger nail. 

Medic looked at Pyro who quickly put an end to the miserable creatures existence with a swift blow to the head. Once that was done and without looking back, they closed the door and returned upstairs. 

 

 

\------------------------

It was still raining. 

Medic flopped down onto the old musty couch and rested his head on Pyro's shoulder. He was exhausted, and so was everyone else. At least they were some place dry now and the small amount of warmth provided by the small burner in the middle of the room was more than welcome. Heavy later joined them with a can of beans which he then divided amongst them.

As the evening progressed, Pyro had become much more talkative and was attempting to keep the doctor entertained by telling stories of which he only knew half the plot. Medic just smiled at him as warmly as he could. Since the epidemic, his physical appearance had changed greatly. His eyes were constantly tired and were were even more sunken in then usual. He had also lost a good amount of weight. Heavy had also changed, as for Pyro, well, no one could really make out any differences but it was likely the same.

"Who will take first watch?" Interrupted Heavy.

"If ve simply barricade ze door to zis room, ve should be alright." Replied Medic, " Zis area is pretty isolated. As long as ve remain quiet ve should not be disturbed." He concluded.

 

Pyro nodded."Wrr rrl nrrd trr slrrp."

It was true, they had been on the mover non stop for the past two days and were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

Heavy nodded in acknowledgment and began pushing the heaviest thing in the room against the door, an old wardrobe. He then returned to his companions who had already extinguished the burner and were now settling down for the night. He proceeded to do the same and not long later, he fell asleep.

 

 

 

\-----------------------

 

 

It felt like he'd been sleeping forever when Medic was awoken by a scratching sound on the door accompanied by moaning and gurgling. He didn't need to think long before pin pointing exactly what it was. Slowly, he got up trying to locate exactly what had attracted it. Not spotting anything potentially attractive to a undead creature, he made his way to the door picking up his bone saw in the process. Looking discretely through a crack between the barricade and the door, he saw what he was looking for. Four of the infected were out there, clawing at the wood, drooling and gnawing. 

"Sheisse" he breathed as he hurried to check at the window.

Half a dozen more seemed to be coming towards the house. He also spotted something he knew was not there yesterday. It was smoke, a cloud of smoke . Someone had been foolish enough to start a fire this close to the house, not to mention in such an exposed spot. 

The so called "zombies" were not smart, but they knew how to track something down and whoever they were tracking must have either passed by or hid in the house.

He felt his panic level rising. He hurried to Heavy and began to shake him awake, immediately covering his mouth with his hand before he could ask any questions and pointed to the door. It didn't take long for Heavy to catch on. He immediately got up and started packing their essentials while Medic rushed to wake up Pyro. The less noise they made, the better.

The scratching on the door turned into banging as more and more bodies piled onto it. It was threatening to break at any moment.

"What is bringing them here?" Asked Heavy who was trying to figure out a way to exit the building.

"Some idiot built a fire. Eizer zat, or zey could just be passing through." Medic responded with a sense of urgency all while shoving several items into his bag. “Eizer vay ve have to get out of here.” He tossed Pyro another jacket.

"Thrr’s mrr crrmrrng!" Pyro was in alarm and he was right to be. The half dozen of earlier had turned into a twenty Infected strong herd. 

"How much ammunition to ve have?" Questioned Medic.

 

"Nrrt rrnugh trr krll thrrm rll." Responded the pyromaniac digging through a small plastic bag, pulling out a few clips and bullets.

 

"Doktor, we should go through the door. We have greater chance of making it out back door then surviving a jump out of second floor window intact." Heavy stated as Medic approached the window.

"Uh... Ja, yes let's do zat. Your right. If ve can make it past ze ones in ze hall, ve could make a break for it out ze back door, assuming zat it's clear." The doctor was already attempting to move the massive wardrobe blocking the door.  
Heavy looked at Pyro for signs of protest, and seeing that there were none, he went to assist Medic in his struggle. 

With one big push on Heavy's part, the door flew open and just as they had agreed, they made a run for it. They dashed down the hallway slicing at anything blocking their path. Heavy, being slower had trouble keeping up the pace but ploughed his way through the undead with ease, or so it seemed. Medic made it to the back door first and stopped suddenly. 

"Turn back! Find anozer exit!" Yelled Medic as he dashed towards a window at the far end of the house.

When Pyro ran past the front door, he couldn't believe his eyes. They were everywhere and coming from all directions! He made it to the window and followed Medic out. Heavy took out a couple more on the staircase before turning his attention to the window, and following his companions . He jumped out and ran leaving the infected behind.

 

\--------------

 

None of them knew how far they had run or for how long. One thing, however, was sure. They were nowhere near that place of horrors. It had taken them a while to process what had just happened as it all went by so fast. 

They now found themselves sitting next to a stream, just idling around for the most part. Pyro was counting supplies while Heavy would not leave Medic alone about his idea of not setting a watch up that night. Medic was a man with a lot of pride but who knew when to admit that he was wrong, and yes, he had been wrong to rule out watch duty that night. It was almost as if fate were mocking them.

"Pyro, could you pass me ze first aid kit bitte?" Asked the German, while tending to a few random scratches that Heavy had obtained during the escape. 

Taking the first aid kit from Pyro he proceeded to add;" I hope for your sake zat none of zese vere inflicted by zose zings."

"All could have been avoided if you had agreed to set up watch." Heavy retorted.

"I already apologized for zat." Said Medic flatly.

 

"Rrt lrst wrr rr rll shtrrl uhlrve." Pyro added while scooting closer to the two bickering men.

"Ja, ve are alive. Masterful deduction Pyro." Replied Medic laughing a bit to himself.

"Rr wrrs jrst tryrng trr brr rptrmrshtrc." Muttered the pyromaniac.

Heavy was staring at a particularly nasty looking cut that Medic was fixing up. He recalled the glass cutting him as he went through the window but he didn't recall this one being so deep. His thoughts were interrupted when the doctor exclaimed; "Zat, I'm afraid, is going to need stitching." While pointing to the wound.

Heavy did not even bother protesting as Medic threaded a needle, and got to work.

 

\-----------------

After a few hours, the team thought that it would be in their best interests to keep moving. Truth be told, none of them had a specific destination in mind, they all figured that if they just kept moving, eventually, something would come up. Following the highway was too dangerous. They had to avoid crowded and debris ridden places as much as possible, so following the smaller side roads would have to be the best option cover wise.

They walked along at a leisurely pace, stopping once every so often to check on injuries, get fresh water or to attempt a hunt of some sort. By the time evening came, they had managed to successfully catch and kill a rabbit.

Pyro had never been a fan of the killing of small furry creatures, but had eventually come to terms with it, even though he never wanted to assist in the skinning/gutting process. They found shelter in an old mill which, as decayed as it was, was better than sleeping out in the open. They set up the little burner in the center of their circle and this time, gave designated watch hours to every one. It was much colder in the damp wooden mill but the weather outside was calm and the sky was clear. This was going to be a peaceful night.

Once they had finished eating, they blocked all entrances into the house. Pyro had volunteered for first watch. He set himself up at a window overlooking the path they came on. The stream glistened in the moonlight, a vision which was almost hypnotic to Pyro who was only interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped a little but calmed down realizing it was only Heavy.

"Can we talk?" Asked Heavy with an unreadable expression. A mix between worry and general tiredness along with something else, was it...fear? 

Pyro gave a quick nod and moved over a little to give him some space.

"Wrrts thrr mrrtrr?" Pyro questioned.

Heavy's response to this was to roll up his sleeve, exposing the freshly stitched wound he had received earlier that same day." It's about this. Is most likely nothing but this is just precaution." 

Pyro seemed to be lost in thought as he stared at the careful stitches lining the man’s arm.

Heavy carried on; " I do not recall getting wound this serious by jumping out of window so there is possibility that I may have gotten it from zombie."

"Brt yrr wrr frrn tuhdrr." 

"Which is why I am telling you this as precaution. If cut is infected and I do not survive, I want you to make sure Doktor does not do anyting stupid." Heavy's expression had become much more serious.

The fire starter was taken aback by this. "Wrrt dr yrr mrrn? Rrt drrsrn't lrrk rrnfrrctrrd trr mrr."

"It takes time. Promise you will look after him if anyting happens." He was staring directly into The crackled lenses of Pyro's mask, a gesture which was fairly intimidating to the smaller man who flinched slightly.

"Yrs! Yrs! Drrn't wuhry." Pyro rapidly responded. 

Heavy calmed down and gave Pyro a friendly pat on the back.

"Thank you. You are good friend.” He gave Pyro a friendly pat on the back and stood up. Before leaving he turned and looked up at one of the holes in the roof. “Sky is clear tonight. Hopefully we have nice weather tomorrow, better than traveling in rain yes?” He chuckled a bit. “Doktor is lucky to have you. You are lucky man my friend.” He then simply returned to his bedroll. 

Within a few minutes Pyro could hear the man’s faint snoring. He was asleep.

Pyro was no where near reassured. If anything he was more scared than ever. The thought of witnessing another one of his friends die was unbearable to him. Not only that but he also had Medic to worry about now. The doctor had suffered nervous breakdowns in the past and had once or twice been on the verge of depression. How would he cope with the loss of one of his closest friends? No. Heavy was not infected. It was, how did he put it? Just a precaution. Yeah, just a precaution. Pyro looked back out onto the path. Nothing was coming, no signs of infected or other people for that matter. Heavy was right, this was a lovely night.

He was starting to get drowsy. The sight outside the window had become almost boring to look at.

"Pyro." Medic approached him . "Your vatch is over. Go get some sleep."

Pyro remained silent.

"Pyro, are you alright?" Medic asked with concern.

"Rrm rrkuy. Jrst rr brrt slrrpr." He attempted a smile behind his mask but knew that Medic couldn't see it anyway. Saying nothing more, he settled down next to the doctor, resting his head against the wooden wall. He let sleep take over.

 

\------------------------

 

The sun shone bright through the cracks in the wooden walls. Pyro woke up to find Medic and Heavy talking over a kettle of water. 

The two men noticed him and gave him a friendly greeting. Pyro waddled over and settled down next to them. He was right, the night had been peaceful and the refreshed expressions on their faces proved it. He was handed a bottle of water from which he then proceeded to drink.

"Ve could stay here for a vile." Proposed Medic, breaking the silence.

"Whr?" Was Pyro's response.

"Vell, ve have plenty of vater und it's a rather sheltered area." 

"Is also good hunting ground" Heavy chimed in cleaning the remainder of the rabbit carcass which had begun to smell a little."Can set traps in forest."

"Exactly. Ve should take advantage of zis time to recover a bit." Medic was sounding happier than he had in a long time.

"Rrf yrr wrnt trr thrn srre." Was the muffled agreement on the firebug's part.

"Be careful Doktor, we should not get too comfortable." Heavy warned.

"Don't vorry mein freund, if ve just stay until ve recover from our overall tiredness und hunger , ve can leave in about two or three days." Medic reassured.

They finally agreed to spend a couple more nights in the mill. 

\------------ 

That afternoon, Heavy had invited Pyro to join him on a walk in the surrounding forest. He walked behind the larger man as he carefully placed his homemade snares into tree hollows and bushes. Heavy was humming to himself as he lumbered on. He stopped after placing his last trap and turned to face Pyro. 

"It is healing." sighed the Russian. "Is good sign.”

“Rr trrld yrr thrrt rrt wrrs grnrr brr frrn.” Pyro replied smiling under his mask.

“Yes but, problem is not there. Is another cut. Too many wounds makes greater chance of infection.” He lifted his sleeve at shoulder level revealing a smaller cut.

Pyro looked closely, unclear of what he was looking. Heavy assisted by pointing out to something that was barely noticeable but the signs were clear. there were little black spots littering the inside and around the scarring wound. Pyro froze.

Once a person was infected it could take days to spread. It all depended on the size and health of the individual. Heavy was a pretty big guy and the fact that it had started to show this quickly was quite surprising.

 

"Uh nrr." The masked man began to tremble slightly and grabbed his face in his hands."nrr, nrr, nrr thrs crn't brr hrprrnrrng!"

Pyro was having a break down. Heavy immediately regretted opening his mouth but he knew that if he had kept silent, his departure would have been even more painful. He knelt down next to the distressed pyromaniac.

"I warned you about the possibility of this happening. " Heavy said as softly as he could. Too much noise could attract the infected and that was the last thing he needed. " I told you for good reason."

"Wrr crn't yrr trll Mrrdrrk! Hr hrrs thrr rrght trr knrr!" Pyro was yelling now.

"Pyro please, I have been with Doktor long enough to know that he will not take another loss easily. Remember what happened with Engineer?" Heavy explained. "When infection takes over you need to make sure Doktor does not do something stupid. Remember meeting yesterday? You made promise, now is your turn to honor it."

Pyro suddenly found himself wrapped in a hug."Just, do not tell Doktor. Please."

Pyro reluctantly nodded ."Rr wrll try." He responded dully.

A sudden snap was heard behind them making Pyro jump.

"Looks like someting is caught in trap." Heavy said as he released Pyro, picked up his gear and walked over the the origin of the sound. The smaller man following behind.  
Sure enough there was something in the trap, it resembled a giant rat or a small raccoon. It was dead of course.

"Wrrt rrs rt?" Asked Pyro seemingly forgetting the more pressing matters and turning his attention to the corpse in the trap.

"Is muskrat. We are near water, is common." Heavy replied, putting the animal in his bag.

They returned to their temporary camp where Medic was trying to fix tears in an old tent he had manage to salvage. He didn't look up from his work as the two approached him.

"Did you set all ze traps?" He asked.

"Yrs, rnd wrr crght rr mrrskrrt." Answered Pyro. There was noticeable worry in his voice which did not get past the doctor. 

Medic had noticed this. He frowned a bit.

"Zat's... Good to hear..." He looked up and eyed the pyromaniac suspiciously. He wanted to know what was wrong and knowing Pyro, he would eventually crack under pressure. If they were hiding something from him, he deserved to know what it was.

 

 

 

 

\------------

 

Heavy had been hiding his distress for too long. He needed to be alone. He paced along the stream looking for something upon which to release his anger and frustration. Nearing a clearing, a movement caught his eye.

It was a mutant. Perfect timing.

The Russian man charged into the walking corpse and broke both its legs in one kick. The miserable thing fell to the ground gurgling and growling as it slowly tried to drag itself towards its assailant. Heavy grabbed a stick and started beating it profusely slowly turning it into a smelly, moaning mush. Dark blood splattered everywhere covering Heavy's hands, face, legs and torso. Letting out a howl of fury as he prepared to deliver the final blow to the thing's head. But the blow never came. He stopped just before hitting the vital spot and did something nobody thought him capable of. He began to cry.

He sank down to his knees in front of the undead creature and cried, releasing years of pain in the process. He cried for his family and friends, he cried for Engineer, Spy, Soldier, Demo, Sniper and even Scout, he cried for Medic and Pyro and worst of all he cried for himself. He who had prized himself in being so strong now found himself utterly torn apart. He could almost hear Soldier's voice in the distance yelling at him for being so "weak". 

Just like that he had released a lifetime of torment in a span of five minutes.

He wiped his tears away and stood up. If he was going to die, he thought, he would go down fighting. Just then he remembered the miserable, grisly sight that lay at his feet. The twitching, mangled body was still there, miserably biting the air. Heavy stared at it with dead eyes, lingered for a moment, then walked off.

\-----------

Heavy's absence had allowed Medic to pursue his investigation about Pyro. He found the firebug sharpening his axe and cleaning the other diverse weapons they had accumulated over time. The time to tend to such small yet important tasks was rare but the last two days had been so calm that Pyro had actually found himself getting bored. He easily got bored.

On ceasefire days back at RED, he would have spent this his time drawing, playing with Medic’s doves behind his back, watching the odd cartoon or even finding the top ten best ways to annoy his teammates. Now, he desperately needed something to distract his already troubled mind, and assuring the maintenance of their equipment was exactly that something he'd been looking for. 

 

The doctor decided not to waste anymore time.

"Pyro." He called out, making the arsonist jump, dropping the small pistol he was currently cleaning.

Even from a distance, he could tell that he was the last person that Pyro wanted to see right now.

"Do you have a minute? Zere are some questions zat I vould like to ask you." He continued. He did not bother waiting for a response before seating himself down next to the smaller man.

Pyro put down his tools and turned to face Medic.

"Wrrt dr yrr wuhnrr knrr?" He asked, trying to mask his discomfort.

"Firstly, I vant to know if you are alright -"

"-Rr trld yrr rm frrn!"

"You did not let me finish," Said Medic, his voice remaining calm, "Secondly I vant to know vhy you are lying to me about being ok, because you are obviously not ok." His voice took a more serious tone. “I care about you und I do not vant to see you suffer. You und Heavy are my only friends left, ve are a team. Und a team does not keep secrets from one anozer.” He continued, putting an arm around the fire lover.

Pyro was cornered. He was a terrible liar and he knew that even when he tried his hardest anyone, especially the doctor, could see straight through them. He had to think fast.

…

He remained silent.  
…

Then he got an idea. He would bend the truth. 

"Pyro? Pyro." Medic waved a hand in front of the fire starter's face.  
...

"Rrm shcrrd." Started Pyro.

" Ve are all scared, but zat's not all is it?"

"Rrm shcrrd rf lrrsrng mrr prrprrl rr lrrve."

 

Medic's expression softened. Pyro was not lying. He truly was scared of loosing more people he loved, he was scared of ending up alone.

"Is... Is zat why you have been acting so down?"

Pyro sadly nodded.

"Vell, Heavy und I are both healthy, we don't intend on leaving you anytime soon." Medic soothed.

This was all wrong. It was all so very wrong. Pyro burst into tears and hugged Medic as would a child seeking comfort.

Medic stroked the distraught man's back in an attempt to calm him. Sensing this was not going to stop anytime soon, he figured that it would be best to just wait it out and planted a quick kiss on Pyro's head.

After about ten minutes, Pyro calmed down. He let go of The doctor and got back to his work feeling a tiny bit better. 

 

 

 

\---------

 

 

Night came and went. Heavy's infection was spreading and it was spreading fast.

In four days, two thirds of his arm had begun to turn and rot, same went for his fingers on both hands, his toes and part of his torso. He no longer trusted himself around his friends, for fear that at any second he might turn on them. Maintaining his posture was becoming more and more difficult and as a result he spent most of the time "hunting" or on “supply runs” in other words, as far away from Pyro and Medic as possible. 

He could no longer bear it. He was slowly decomposing, he had even begun to smell like them as well as being in constant pain. He silently wished for it to be over.

It happened one afternoon, the team of three were startled by a volley of gunfire. It was not close but it was not far either. They could clearly hear people screaming, some barking orders and others carrying them out. The mercs were well used to firefights and they knew that so many bullets could only mean that whatever they were against, it was big. Suddenly an RPG was fired and the people fell silent. There was some rustling in the bushes. The three men ducked behind the mill hoping to avoid detection. The rustling continued.

Suddenly a female voice barked "IT’S A HERD! FALL BACK! I REPEAT, FALL BACK!" 

This was bad. This was very bad. No sooner had she spoken those words that out of the bushes emerged what looked like an infinite number or infected in a state so foul, that they looked like they would fall apart at any second.

The team stared, paralyzed by fear. It was Medic who snapped them back to their senses.

"RUN DUMMKOPFS!" He screeched.

They quickly loaded their gear and ran in the direction with the least infected, hacking away at those in their path. 

This was an all too familiar scene for Heavy. He knew that they would be easily overwhelmed if they kept going at this rate. He could feel that fatigue settling in and his bones becoming more and more brittle by the minute. He knew it would end somehow and he doubted it would be of old age. He stopped running and turned back to face the mass of hungry mouths behind him. Pyro and Medic were advancing forward at steady pace. However, he feared it would not last as the numbers of infected they were dealing with seemed to be slowly increasing.

He was now facing the mob of living death. Despite his state, he was intent on buying them as much time as possible. 

Summoning the last of his strength he bellowed, "ALRIGHT! WHICH ONE OF YOU LITTLE BABIES IS READY TO FACE ME!"

With that, he lunged himself into the crowd, ripping, crushing, smashing anything and anyone he could get his hands on. He was glad that his friends hadn't noticed his actions and hoped they could forgive him for what he'd done. He felt teeth sink into his leg and forearm, and as much as he tried to keep going, his strength was failing him.Using what was left, he trudged through the mass of bodies and once his companions were out of sight, he let himself get over run. Struggling to reach his gun, he aimed it at his head and fired. There was no way that he was going to allow himself to turn.

 

 

 

\-------------------

 

 

Pyro had a sinking feeling in his gut. He had seen Heavy stop and disappear into the mob. He had urged Medic on even after he had insisted on slowing down. In other words, he felt terrible. Him and the doctor had successfully escaped the herd and stopped on a hill to catch their breath. The doctor immediately noticed Heavy's disappearance.

"Pyro vhere's Heavy?" His voice was full of anxiety.

Pyro made a series of small incoherent mumbles and backed up a little.

"Pyro! Vere is he!" Anxiety had turned to panic.

Medic quickly jumped onto his feet and began to run back to the sight of the massacre only to be stopped by the firestarter.

"Vhat are you doing! Ve need to find him! He could be-"

"Hrrs grrn!" Interrupted Pyro. 

"VHAT?! VHAT DO YOU MEAN GONE?!" Medic screeched. 

Sudden realization hit him like a bullet. "You... You had something to do vith zis didn't you? " His tone had one again changed, it was now radiating hostility. "You left him out zere to die! You selfish little cowar-"

"Nrr! Rrt wrrsrnt mrr frrlt! Hrr wrs rrnfrrctrrd! Plrs lrrstrrn trr mrr!" Pyro pleaded.

"You're lying." Replied the Medic, his voice seething with disgust. "YOU MADE ME LEAVE HIM! YOU DRAGGED ME AVAY VHEN HE NEEDED US!" 

A hard punch hit Pyro square in the jaw who reeled back in pain and shock. He did not fight back. He deserved it. He never should have let Heavy go through with this. He should have forced him into telling the doctor if not, tell him himself.

" I zhought I could trust you! I let you into my heart!" Tears were now streaming down the doctors face.”You saved my life, but you vouldn’t save his! “

"Hrr mrrd mrr prrmrrsh!" The pyromaniac was still on the ground. "Hrr grrt rrnfrrctrrd. Hrr drrdn't wrnt trr wuhry yrr." Pyro was struggling to say the right words. 

He slowly sat up only to see his doctor curled up in a ball sobbing. He walked up to him in an attempt to comfort him.

"Don't touch me." Hissed Medic.  
Pyro did not listen, he embraced the man who resisted a little but eventually simply gave up trying and cried.

Heavy had been right about one thing though, had Pyro not been there, Medic would have probably died as well. 

 

\-----------

 

Medic had never been one to go through rough patches easily which was curious judging by his job and usually professional demeanor, well, except when he stared at a blown up enemy corpse with eyes like two giant orbs glowing with excitement like a child staring at a new toy. 

When Scout had succumbed to the disease, the doctor expected respawn to do its job and set his mind upon examining the deceased boy's body for signs of trauma or any visible reason for his infection or more importantly, what had killed him. No one knew how he had come to get it. He had worked through the night, expecting Scout to burst in through the door of the infirmary yelling all sorts of obscenities. 

Oddly enough Scout's body was never claimed by respawn.

Medic dismissed it as an error even though upon examination the system was fully operational. The corpse in the infirmary had begun to rot and still there was no sign of the young man. Only a few days later they had learnt about the full extent of the virus and its effects on the human mind and body. 

Scout was permanently dead and despite the fact that he was maybe one of the most annoying people he had ever known, the doctor still could not help but feel a pang of guilt even though he knew it was not his fault. 

The respawn system functioned upon recognition of certain cells belonging to certain people who were permitted to use the device. It relied on them to be able to reconstruct damaged organs and revert the body to its healthy pre-death state. Problem was, even though on the outside Scout looked the same, on the inside he was a completely different person the virus had completely rewired his body and in the process, killing those vital cells necessary for respawn to work. 

 

As the effects of the epidemic worsened, the mercs were stranded. With few supplies and ammunition remaining, they were forced to flee the RED base and that's when everything turned to hell. 

Sniper and Demoman were the next to go after Spy disappeared. They had died almost three months after the team left RED, next was Soldier. He died about two months later which left Engie, Heavy, Pyro and Medic. Medic had grown silent. He was no longer acting as dominant and commanding as before, in fact, barely spoke. Most of the team was just as quiet so no one bothered to question him.

The night Engineer decided to end it all, he had even considered following him. He probably would have too if Pyro hadn't stumbled upon him and after a brief fight, finally talked him out of it. Medic had been surprisingly good at hiding his emotions up to that point but it was proving to be too big of a burden as he suddenly exposed Pyro to a more sensitive side of him. He spilt out all his fears and worries towards Pyro who just seemed to listen intently. Since then, he had come to use the masked man as a crutch and it was the same the other way around. They had a close relationship before the epidemic but this had only strengthened it.

 

Surviving for over a year had proven difficult for the three remaining men. They were like a small family as Pyro had once described it, a small unrelated family. Heavy had taken on more of a leading role in the group and just as everything and everyone seemed to be doing better than they had in a long time, he too passed away. The doctor felt useless, everyone he loved was dying around him and he could not do anything to stop it. He had to make sure that nothing happened to Pyro at all cost for if not, he would most likely end up alone. That was the one thing he too feared the most.

 

 

\-------------

 

 

The sky was getting dark. They had no choice but to camp outside, which was not something they were thrilled about but both men were in no condition to travel. They had found a small rocky overhang and had settled under it.

They made a small fire around which they sat. They were extremely exposed but it was a risk they'd have to take. 

Medic was curled up into a ball wrapped in an old blanket. He hadn't stopped beating himself up over the day's events. He refused to eat, drink or even sleep. 

This did not help Pyro's anxiety. 

He sat at the opposite side of the fire staring with sadness into the beautiful flame. He knew Medic could never forgive him for what he'd done, but life had to move on. He shyly scooted closer to him. He did not know what to say but he just wanted to be close to the doctor again, or at least just make sure he was alright and not planning anything too drastic. He decided to go with something simple.

"Mrrdrrk? Rr yrr rrkuy?" He asked hesitantly.

Medic stopped trembling and slowly turned his head to face the arsonist. His face bore an expression so full of hatred and so cold, that if it weren't for the fire, Pyro would have froze on the spot.

"Am I ok? You lied to me, got Heavy killed und you are asking me if I am ok?! EVERYONE IS DEAD! ZEY ARE NEVER COMING BACK!" He cried.

Something in Pyro suddenly snapped. He had taken too much blame today and Medic deserved an explanation. He was now angrier than he was sad. He grabbed the doctor by his shirt collar, pulled him into a sitting position and stared right into his eyes. 

"Lrrstrrn trr mrr!" He scolded, " Yrr drn't rrvrrn knrr wrrt hrprnd! Yrr jrst blrrmrrng mrr brcrrs yrr drrn't knrr thr shtury!"He let go of Medic who stared at Pyro in shock. The fire lover could barely breathe and retreated to the corner of the overhang to give himself some air. "Hrr mrrd mrr prrmrrsh. Hrr mrrd mrr prrmrrsh thrt whrn thrr rrnfrrctrn krlld hrm, rr wrrld krrp yrr srfe. Hrr drrdn't wrnt yrr tr wuhry." He continued. 

Medic's expression softened from a snarl to a sad, on the verge of tears look. That did sound like something Heavy would do. He could tell that Pyro was not lying., after all, he had always meant well in the past.

Pyro was shaking. He hated getting angry and most of all he hated the things he did when he was angry. He took deep breaths in order to calm down.

“I...I can't believe it...Vhy vould he do zat?!" Medic put his face in his hands. "Mein gott Pyro vat have I done? I have acted like a child. I should have listened to you." He continued, his voice full of shame. "I'm so sorry." He hid himself in the blanket.“Ve should have set up a vatch zat night. It is all my fault.”

None of them slept that night. They were both riddled with guilt and despite Pyro constantly telling him that none of the day’s events were on him, Medic would not let himself believe that he was innocent.

Another couple weeks had passed. Needless to say that it had been getting colder. The two had decided it would be wiser to stick to the cities and villages where they had a greater chance of finding supplies as well as shelter. This was as long as they could avoid detection of the odd pack of infected which passed through every once in awhile. 

They walked through the remains of a shopping mall, looting corpses and searching through the rundown shops for anything useful. The major cities had been bombed after the start of the epidemic, the raids were supposed to last a year but there simply were no longer enough people to carry them out or so . 

The corpses littering the floor were old and did not contain much for the most part. The best thing they had found so far was complete first aid kit. Pyro was following Medic with a shotgun in hand alert for any signs of movement.

It was not uncommon to find other people in the city. Generally, one had to avoid such interactions as it was common knowledge that in this situation, if you couldn't trust someone with your life, you could not trust them at all. Many people learned that the hard way. Sometimes they would even feign injury to reach your soft spot then later call in the rest of their group. It really left the question of who was to be feared most, the living or the dead?

It was rare to see groups of less than three people. This made the two men a particularly easy target. While Medic smashed his way into a vending machine to retrieve a pack of beef jerky which had been carelessly left behind, Pyro patrolled the area surrounding them leaving no stone unturned. On the way back to their camp, it started to snow, once again, another thing to worry about. Now they would have to devote most of their time to trying keeping warm. Their settlement was in a four story apartment building on the second floor. It was a decent place and still contained a few luxuries from the pre infection period. The best one being a working generator.

 

With this, Medic had attempted to reconnect the radio to try and pick up on any useful channels. It failed miserably. Now, it was mainly used as a heat source.  
Entering the apartment, they emptied their loot onto the table. They had found enough food to last them a couple days if they rationed it strictly, as well as water and extra clothing layers which they were thankful for as they only had a couple liters of fuel left in the generator.

 

One day there was a crashing sound echoing from the lower floor of the building. The weather had been getting particularly nasty over the past few days so the possibility of a broken window was not to be excluded. Pyro heard it first. He nudged Medic and out his finger to the nozzle of his mask to indicate he wanted silence.

Medic turned off the generator and listened in.

There it was again.

It was the sound of metal furniture being pushed along with the crashing of plastic and glass. Pyro loaded his shot gun and grabbed his axe, the doctor grabbed a pistol. The two exited the apartment quietly, approaching the sounds. From the top of the stairs, they could hear the voices of what sounded like a woman and man talking to each other in semi hushed voices as they looted their way through the building. 

Medic made the "follow me " motion and slipped off into a hall. They needed to assess their enemy, what shape they were in, how many there actually were and where they seemed to be going as well as the vital question, should we fight them or hide until they pass?

Poking his head from around a corner, Medic got the answer to his questions. There were only two individuals that he knew of but they were healthy and fit looking, they didn't even seem to take interest for any of the useful supplies that they had uncovered. One of them mumbled something inaudible and reached into a box retrieving the box of medical supplies they had accumulated over a few days. The other moved towards him. 

Medic and Pyro moved closer. The arsonist and cocked his gun as silently as he could and so did the doctor. The intruders flinched a little and spun their heads in the general direction of the noise.

"Did you hear that?" Whispered the woman.

"Yeah, ah did. The darn kid doesn't know to keep quiet." Replied the man. He had a strong Texan accent.

Despite the cold, Medic could feel sweat drops forming on his brow. He backed up into a doorway and held his breath. 

"Hey Matt! That you?" The man continued.

Medic's blood suddenly ran cold. There were three of them, and pretty well armed too.  
He looked around the corner and saw the slight glow of Pyro's lenses under a table on the other side of the room.

If they were stealthy enough, they could probably make it to the fire escape. Problem was there was another man in the building and his position was currently unknown. Then there were footsteps coming up from the basement. Medic let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah I'm here! Did you find anything?" The man known as Matt called back. 

"Some medicine but not nearly enough, or the right kind for that matter." The woman replied tossing the unwanted medical supplies onto the floor.

"Did anyone check the next floor?" Replied the Texan.

"Nah man. But I can go if you want. I just need to make sure it's clear." Said Matt.

"Let's just head up and-...Wait a minute. You got a gun on you Matt?" Questioned the woman.

"Me? No, why?" Matt was confused.

The three of them took a suspicious stance. "Didn't we hear a clicking sound, or something? It could have been anything but it sounded like a gun." She asked. " At least I think we did."

"Now that ya think about it, it sure as hell sounded like one. Could have also been an animal of some sort." Replied the Texan, taking out a wooden bat and patting his gun in its holster.

A small piece of rubble fell onto his shoulder. He brushed it off.

"However, I don't like the idea that someone might be watchin' us. Let’s just find what we’re looking for and get the hell out’a here. This place is falling to pieces, they really didn’t go easy on this place. Kid, you take the stairs, we will keep searchin’ this floor.”

The trio began to walk through the halls. Pyro made a signal to Medic indicating the staircase that lead back up to the second floor where the fire escape was. The doctor nodded and began to slowly make his way through the mess of furniture and rubble, careful not to make any noise.  
Pyro did the same. He turned a corner and suddenly came to a stop. It was the Texan. He had his back turned to him. The firebug backed up slowly but wasn't careful enough.

His rubber soled shoes squeaked against the the ground and the man spun around bat at the ready. "Well, hello there." He grinned as he brought down his bat on Pyro with a force to match his character. 

The fire starter got the wind knocked out of him and fumbled around for his gun and aimed it at his assailant. Before he could pull the trigger he felt something pressed against the back of his head. 

"Who’s this?" It was the woman, she held a pistol to Pyro's head.

 

"I think he’s been followin’ us. There might be more of ‘em.”

Medic had made it to the fire escape. He waited one minute, two minutes and no sign of Pyro. Dropping his gear in front of the window, he cautiously made his way down the stairs. Checking both left and right before crossing the corridors as if they were streets he hurried towards the place he'd last seen Pyro. 

 

"Pyro?" He whispered. Checking in the various rooms but finding no trace of him. "Pyro are you in here!" He continued in a loud whisper. He heard footsteps running towards him. "Pyro y-" He did not have time to finish his sentence before being grabbed from behind and tackled to the ground by Matt.

Medic had quick reflexes, he flipped over and threw the younger man off of him. To hell with noise, he thought as he grabbed his gun and fired several shots in quick succession. All missed the boy as he lashed out at the doctor with a crowbar, barely missing his head but knocking off his glasses in the process. The boy grabbed the gun from Medic and aimed it at his head. 

 

"Get up." Demanded Matt.

 

Medic was grabbing pitifully at the ground, searching for his glasses. The boy kicked them into his hands. The doctor put them on and was forced into a standing position. 

 

"Yo Tex! I got one!" The boy yelled.

 

"Bring 'Im over." The man replied from another room.

Had it not been for the firearm and the simple outnumbering he faced, Medic could have easily overpowered the younger man but decided it was best to cooperate for his sake and Pyro's. He was pushed into the room where he saw the two other individuals and his companion. The doctor was backed into a corner alongside Pyro who looked to him for comfort. Any gear and weapons they carried were immediately seized. 

The boy was immediately given a quick slap in the face. “I told you not ta call me that.”

"You got any others out there we should worry about?" The Texan asked Pyro.

As Matt dug through The fire starter's bag he pulled out a picture. He grinned and showed the picture to the woman and pointed to the element of interest.

It was a photo of the RED team. One of the few artifacts that had survived the test of time and water damage to remind them of their "family". 

The woman then showed the photo to the Texan who looked at Medic, then back at the photo. He looked up from the photo and grinned at Medic.

"You some kind of doctor?" He asked with interest.

Medic kept his mouth shut down just glared at the man facing him, his eyes shooting daggers.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" He yelled, gripping Medic's face and forcing eye contact.

"Vat do you care." He spat in the other man’s face. He was rewarded with a punch to the gut making him fall to his knees.  
"Mrrdrrk!" Pyro jumped to Medic's side to help him up only to be held back by the woman who held a knife to his throat.  
.  
The Texan shoved the picture into Medic's face. "That's you ain't it?" He spat back while pointing to the photo.

He was pointing at Medic who stood in between Engineer and Pyro, covered in blood, bone saw in hand with his trusted bird on his shoulder, grinning like the mad scientist he was. The symbol on his uniform stood out, giving him away.

The doctor remained silent. The Texan lost patience, grabbed the woman’s knife and pressed it harder against Pyro's neck.

"Now listen up here friend. If you are who we think you are then I believe we can strike a deal. It might just save your life"

The arsonist looked at Medic pleadingly.

" You'd better start talkin' or your friend 'ere gets it."

It all suddenly clicked in the doctor's head. He could use his job title to keep him and Pyro alive. He felt like an idiot for not thinking of that sooner.

"Yes, I am a medic." He sighed.

"Heh, I knew you'd come around." The knife was removed from Pyro's neck. "So here's the deal. We got a casualty back at our camp, leg's hurt pretty bad. None of us got the medical know how to treat it properly. You help us, we let you go." 

The doctor was amazed. This had to be a trap of some sort, no one would just capture two random people, hold them at gunpoint, then offer to let them go. It was hard for him to hide his amazement. 

"You vant me to heal your friend?" He asked suspiciously . "You are asking a complete stranger to heal your friend who is in danger?"

Perhaps they were more brute than brain after all. Still, he had to make sure that him and Pyro would both make it out alive and unharmed.

" I'm also offerin' ya both chance to live. Ah suggest ya take it." 

Medic thought for a second. "Exactly how alive are ve talking?"

"I don't think ya realize in what a poor position you are to be givin' orders."

"Vell from ze looks of it, you need me alive. I'm just filling in ze details." Medic's expression was still defiant.

The woman pulled the Texan aside "Look, we really don't need to deal with these guys. Just get rid of them and see what we can do with what we've got." She said in a hushed voice.

"But there the problem, we ain't got nothin' useful so this guy's the best chance we've got. Just trust me Kate." He replied.

"What about the guy in the mask? What's the deal with him?" asked Kate.

"A great bargaining chip that's what." He returned to face the two captives. " You know, a thought just crossed my mind. We don't need your friend like we need you, and since you seem to be showing such indifference towards him, we might as well just get rid of him now."

This was not going how the doctor had hoped.

"Nein! No. I vill submit to your terms, just leave him alone." The doctor grumbled.

"That's what I thought. Now, we will escort you to our casualty and will discuss terms later. Ya got that?" The Texan grinned.

The two nodded and were walked out of the room.

 

\-----

They were led out of the building and into the cold. There was a lot of wind and the snow it carried whipped the five of them constantly. Pyro even considered using the bad weather as a chance to escape but every time he stopped, he was shoved on by Matt, Kate or the Texan. After about ten minutes they were blindfolded. 

They protested this action as this would render knowing the whereabouts of their new location impossible and as a result, would make finding their way back to retrieve their supplies extremely difficult. All this was the hunter group's exact objective. None the less, the blindfolds came on.

Pyro couldn't even count the number of times he had tripped, the snow was starting to seep through his clothes however thick they were which was starting to make him extremely uncomfortable.

After walking for an hour or so, they came to a stop. The blindfolds were removed. The sight before them stirred up mixed feelings. 

The camp itself consisted of three tents placed next to an old barn which Pyro and Medic were led into. Inside was what seemed to be a living space. There were piles and piles of tools, clothes, a lot of canned goods as well, along with several other miscellaneous items. The barn was dry and contained a good amount of straw as well. Pyro was taken aside by surprise. Medic noticed this and struggled against his restraints. Pyro was also fighting back before being pushed into a small annex. This was bad news to both of them. If they were being separated it could have been for a number of reasons and none of those were good.

"Vere are you taking him!" Medic yelled as he heard muffled sounds of distress behind the door.

"Relax doc, like I said, you and your friend here will leave here unharmed as soon as you fix my daughter's leg." The Texan replied as he dragged Medic forward. 

His daughter? This explained why they had ventured so far to find the appropriate medicine. Deep inside, a part of the doctor he thought had died along with the rest of humanity longed to feel the thrill of performing surgery or just getting his hands on a blank canvas of a human being, another part of him was rather concerned. If this man was also a caring father he could be even more dangerous than he had originally anticipated but also easily manipulated emotionally. 

This man needed Medic. It was safe to say that there were not many children around anymore and it would be interesting to see how a child evolved in these conditions. 

"I'm gonna bring you to her so you can make an assessment of the damage done. If you try anything, I'll shoot yer friend." Continued the man. "I'l be in there with you anyways."

The doctor entered a small room at the end of the barn. The girl inside couldn't have been older than ten. She was sleeping.

Her father went to wake her. She weakly opened her eyes. She saw Medic staring at her with a professional stance and a hint of morbid curiosity.

She immediately asked her father who he was.

"He's a doctor, he's gonna take a look at yer leg." He replied giving her a reassuring smile and stroking her hair affectionately. He got up and turned to Medic, his expression stern once more.

"I'm watchin' you." He said handing the doctor a bag of medical supplies.

 

Medic knelt down next to the girl and removed the cover, exposing her wound for all to see. Her leg was bruised and swollen, judging by the awkward angle it was bent in it was obviously either twisted or broken. He had to make sure.

"Tell me, does it hurt ven I do zis?" He asked prodding the girl's leg with his finger.

Her screaming told him it did. Her father immediately jumped up. 

"What the hell did you just do?!" He yelled at the doctor who simply replied;

" You asked me to assess ze damage on her leg, I have done nothing wrong."

He poked it again he same reaction. " I believe it is broken." He continued. "Have you attempted to set it?" The man shook his head. Medic pulled out an aspirin and handed the girl along with a water bottle. "Take zis und count to three." She did as she was told.

"Eins, zwei..."CRACK! Right on three, Medic skillfully twisted the leg back into shape and applied two pieces of wood and a bandage to keep it in shape. The girl screamed in agony as Medic forced the limb into position, which made him laugh internally.

This alerted the Texan even more. The doctor was used to dealing with screaming patients but her shrill cries were beginning to get on his nerves.

"Do you not have stronger pain killers?" Asked Medic in an annoyed manner.

The man looked up from his crying daughter and shook his head. " How long's this gonna take ta heal?" He asked.

"Vell, zat all depends. As long as you clean it regularly und make sure it does not contract infection, about a month or so. Now can ve discuss ze terms of our release?"

"Now just wait a minute. You don't get to decide that" He got up and looked Medic straight in the eye. "Ah said that you would take care of mah daughter and leave unharmed, how do ah know yer treatment is workin? You stay t'il the end of the week and we see how it goes." 

He was escorted out of the room and taken to the annex where Matt was standing guard. The door opened and the doctor was put inside. The door was then shut behind them. His immediate reaction was to look for Pyro and it did not take long for him to locate the trembling mass in the corner of the room despite the dark. 

The pyromaniac had buried himself in the hay and was shivering. The doctor ran up to him but instead of the greeting he expected, Pyro sank deeper into the hay and continued to act like a scared child. 

"Pyro? Pyro can you hear me?" The doctor was concerned.

"Drrn't trrtch mrr!" Pyro yelled.

"Please Pyro its just me! Vat happened? Did zey do something to you?" Medic attempted to remove the jacket and layer of hay covering the smaller man only to have Pyro yell back at him.

Fear struck him. "Did zey do something vith your mask?" 

The firebug shook his head and sat up facing Medic and grabbed him into a hug. 

"Pyro can you please tell if you are alright." Medic said softly.

"Nrrthrrng! Rr wrs jrrst shcrrd thrt thuy wrrld hrrt yrr!" Pyro held Medic close as if he would just melt away at any second. 

"Ach! Don't vorry about me, you got me scared for a second." The doctor's expression straightened up again," Although, I do have some bad news. Ze leader of zis gang of imbeciles is not only a brute but a fazer as vell und his daughter's leg is fine but ve are confined here for a veek at least. But I do-" He was shushed by Pyro.

"Thuy crrn huhr us." He pointed to the door.

He was right, the door was made of thin, rotting planks of wood and was definitely not soundproof.

"I vas saying zat as long as zey are not treating us too poorly ve could take advantage of ze situation ze time it takes us to find a way to escape. To be honest, I think zat zere main intention is not to harm us." The doctor carried on whispering.

"Yrr rr drrctrr, thuy nrrd yrr trr brr hrrppy."

"If happy means locking us in a hay filled closet zen sure vy not." He chuckled.

The door opened and the Texan came in holding bowl containing some form of edible substance along with two spoons and put them down in front of the captives.

"Ah suggest you both eat up while you can. We're expectin' a storm tonight." With that said, he left closing the door behind him.

The two could certainly feel the wind coming through the small cracks in the wood and the snow outside was getting thicker and coming down harder. It was also getting colder in the annex as well. 

The liquid-like substance they had been fed smelled and tasted foul but it was not poison, they were in no position to be picky and ate it none the less.

Medic wondered if they were truly going to release them after a week, he strongly doubted it. If they were to escape it definitely couldn't be done now, they would have frozen to death before long, so instead they made a bed in the hay and tried to sleep through the night partly relieved that it was not them standing watch. 

\-------

 

Medic woke up suddenly. It was impossible for him to sleep any longer, he simply didn't feel as comfortable as he did before. Maybe there was something in their food after all, some sort of sleep inducing agent? He was worried that him and Pyro may have made themselves a bit too comfortable. He just lay awake next to the pyromaniac who was in a deep sleep. He could hear the wind howling outside and could see the snow falling in through patchy roof, the odd snowflake landing on his face and melting instantly. He did not move for the rest of the night. Instead he thought silently about all the events that had come to pass.

The next day Medic was marched back to see the girl. The swelling and bruising was still there but at least the splint held along with no traces of infection. Same thing on the third day and the fourth. All were good signs. Pyro, however, was still locked in the small room. He had only been allowed out a few times but otherwise, he was locked away. He was getting extremely miserable. A week passed and the doctor had decided to bring up their agreement once more. 

"I looked after your daughter und stayed vithout question in zat closet, I had to vitness my friend slowly deteriorate vith zat crap your feeding us. I zink its time ve discussed our release." Said Medic sternly.

The man turned around.

"Well look, I've been talkin' ta the rest of mah group'ere, and quite frankly, I was gonna ask ya ta stay." Replied the Texan. Strangely enough there was not a hint of hostility in his voice.

"To stay?" Asked Medic in disbelief. "As vat? Your prisoner?"

"No, as a member of the community. We could use a man of medicine 'round here. You'd be very welcome."  
Medic eyed him with uncertainty, sure they had been kept dry and fed but he really did not feel too comfortable with the idea of staying with a group of people who had treated him as an enemy just hours prior to this event.

"Vat about Pyro?" 

"Who? Oh yeah him. Well here's the thing, he doesn't exactly poses any valuable skills so if he stayed, it would only be another mouth ta feed and we can't have slackers. It would be just another mouth ta feed. If ya stay, he will have ta go. Think about it, you'll be protected, fed and have a roof over her head, along with friends." He replied.

"You're joking right? Just a veek ago you had a gun to my head und now you vant me to stay und abandon him?! Ze only friend I have left?!" Medic was now angry, he had suspected this would happen but to actually hear that Pyro was considered useless and a burden was unacceptable.

"You don't get to take that tone with me. " Replied the man. He stood a good few centimeters taller than Medic but that not longer intimidated the doctor.

"Oh ja? To vat consequence? You vill shoot me? Ve both know how vell zose threats turn out." Medic spat back.

The Texan removed a gun from its holster and cocked it ready to fire. "Actually, mah little girl's doin' alright so let's face it, the rest of us are all healthy, so shoot in' you wouldn't be a problem. Me offerin' ya ta stay was just me bein' generous as well as wantin' ta put your talent to good use. If you think I'd let ya run away revealing our location to any random group of people then you clearly don't know me." The man replied coolly.

"Nein, your right. I don't know you, BUT YOU DON'T KNOW ME EITHER!"

Without wasting a second, Medic threw the man a punch to the throat and kicked his gun out of his hand which accidentally fired the device alerting the two other group members. 

This was it, they were gonna have to make a run for it if they had any chance of surviving. He did not know why he had not done this sooner but now he was determined to get out of here and make these people suffer in the process.

"I vas a combat medic schweinhund! " he replied throwing a final kick to the man's stomach.  
He grabbed the Texan's gun as well as his reserve and made a break for it. Kate and Matt came charging into the room just as Medic had escaped it. He ran up to the annex, kicked open the door.

"PYRO GET UP! VE ARE GETTING OUT OF HERE!" Medic called out tossing Pyro one of the pistols he had taken. The pyromaniac caught it, hastily made sure it was loaded and ran out the door. 

A bullet hit the wood right next to his head. He turned around and fired a couple shots in the direction of the woman. Who got a bullet to the arm but was not giving any indication of ceasing fire. Medic assisted by firing a shot which hit her right in the neck and she fell to the ground drowning in her own blood. 

That left the kid who changed head first into the pyromaniac. From then it engaged into a fist fight for both of them. Matt using a small blade, was slicing at Pyro attempting to get a his neck while pressing his foot on Pyro's arm, trying to prevent him from reaching for his firearm. There was a sudden banging on the barn door. They could not have come at a more perfect/terrible timing. Pyro managed to recover his gun and shot the boy in the leg.

Matt attempted to drag himself out of the way as Medic pulled Pyro back onto his feet and made a run for the nearest exit unlocking the barn doors in the process releasing a flood of infected who were lured there by the sounds of gunshots. They flooded into the building too distracted by the screams of Matt and the girl in the back room to pay any attention to Pyro and Medic escaping through the doors behind the crowd. One they were out, Medic pointed to a canister containing a bit of what looked to be gasoline of some sort. 

"Pyro, I need you to set zat place on fire or else ve are done fore once zose walking corpses start moving out!" Medic ordered.

Pyro did not have to be asked twice. He wiped the snow off the canister and spilled its contents onto the door of the barn, grabbing one of his last matches, he struck it, threw it onto the puddle which immediately ignited despite the wet wood outside the building. He did not have time to admire his handy work when he was once again rushed on by the doctor.

 

They were on the run again. 

\--------

They could still see the smoke from their location on top of a ruined car park.

It was nothing more than a small greyish plume in the distance. They had no real idea of where they were but there were signs of considerable improvements in the weather. The wind and snowfall for one, had stopped. 

Pyro was picking rocks out of his shoes and humming to himself. Medic was trying to fix his glasses who were even more bent and cracked up then usual. He was not one hundred percent dependent on them, it's just that the world around him a bit blurry and especially in a world like this, it was best to have one's senses as sharp as possible. He gave an exasperated sigh as he placed the crooked pair of glasses on his nose and leant back against the car behind him shivering slightly at the sudden feeling of the ice cold metal through his jacket. If only they had not left Pyro's gear and provisions back at the farm, it had burnt down anyways, anything or anyone inside was unsalvageable and Medic had no idea how to get back to their previous camp where he had left his supplies along with the more personal items they possessed. He knew where it was, just getting there was a bit of a challenge.

He found himself digging into his vest pocket. He was not even sure if it was still in there but digging around a bit, he found it. It was the photograph that betrayed him as being of the medical profession. He had no idea how it had gotten back into his hands but he sure was grateful it was there. He felt sudden chills and let out a series of small coughs.

 

"Drrd yrr suy srmthrng?" Pyro took notice and looked at him questioningly. 

Medic tucked the photograph back into his pocket and looked back at the firestarter and shook his head. 

There was no point in just sitting there and being idle. It was cold out and if they stayed out too long like this they could get sick. Medic could already feel a little cold settling in.

"How are you doing Pyro?" He asked as he stood up, brushing the snow off his pants and back.

Pyro picked the last pebble out of his shoe and put it back on. "Rrkuy uh gurss. Wrrt rrbrt yrr?"

"I've been better. It feels nice to be breazing fresh air again." He replied with a stretch. "It's just a shame zat ve lost our stuff, I have a feeling zat ve are in for a long night of cold und discomfort." 

Pyro was visibly disturbed at the prospect of spending a night in the snow. He looked around and suddenly got an idea. "Mrrdrrk?" 

"hmm?" 

"Drr yrr thrnk thrt rrn rf thrrs crrs mrrght strll wrrk?" Pyro asked walking up to one of the vehicles on the lot.

"A car? Yes, maybe zat could vork." He replied walking up to the car. He peered in through a window. "Ve need to find one vith ze keys still inside as vell as enough fuel, a charged battery und tires fit for travel." He attempted to open the door, it was locked." Stand back." He continued gently pushing Pyro aside, grabbing a piece of rubble and throwing it at the front side window smashing it. He then reached inside and opened the door, got inside and looked around. "Nein, zis one is not operational." He said closing the car door behind him.The cables had been completely chewed up by what looked like some sort of rodent.

 

"Thrrs rrn lrrks lrrk rt crrld wrrk." Called Pyro from the other end of the lot. 

Medic jogged over and inspected the vehicle. "Ze tires don't look in too bad of a shape." He declared. "Did you find ze keys?"

Pyro nodded and tossed him a set of keys. Medic caught them, sat himself down in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition. After a few tries the engine roared to life. "Haha! You are right! It does vork!" Said the doctor excitedly. He then glanced at the fuel levels. "Und ze fuel levels are high! Ve are good to go!" He stitched off the engine. "But first, I zink zat ve should try und recover anything useful from ozer cars." 

Pyro nodded in agreement and looked up at the sky. It was starting to snow again.

"Yrr knrr, uh drrn't thrnk thrt rt's smrrt tr truhvrrl rt nrght. Wrr crrld stuy hrr frr thr nrght rnd lrv rn thr mrrnrrng." 

Medic glanced back at him and gave a nervous laugh. "Ja, your right, I vas a bit too excited. I Let's just take vat ve can use und sleep in ze car." 

Snow was falling steadily now and the wind was getting stronger. It was almost completely dark and continuing to loot the cars in the dark was just plain dangerous as well as not very useful. 

They had been rather successful. Pyro had discovered a basic survival kit hidden in the trunk of a small van as well as some clothes and a small blanket. Medic had uncovered a tool box along with a few canned goods but not much. They had both had the idea of syphoning fuel from other cars that were similar models. Still it was better than nothing and both of them tried to get comfortable on the back seat, which was proving to be a challenge. 

They finally settled on just reclining both front seats to the maximum. They made sure they locked the car as well as covering the windows as best as possible, using the useless clothing items as makeshift curtains. It was in no was a safe haven, but it sure was better than freezing to death outside. Eventually, sleep took over.

They woke up in the later hours of morning with a slight shiver. It had been freezing cold that night and both could see that there was frost on the windows.

Pyro put his seat back into position and peered outside. There were a few tracks in the snow but they were not big enough to be human or infected so that was good. He opened the door and stepped outside. The snow was falling slowly and everything was peaceful. He heard a yawn behind him signaling Medics presence.  
"Mein gott, it really snowed last night didn't it?" He said." Ze veather is getting even colder." He continued with a small cough.

Pyro honestly just wanted to get moving for his feet were starting to get cold. "Yrrh, rt rs. Wrrn shrld wrr grrt mrrvrrng?" 

"Venever you vant." Said Medic heading back to the car. "I'm just vondering if ve might have to remove ze snow from behind ze veels. Just stay zere vile I try to backup."

Medic closed the door and put the key in the ignition, the car started. He switched the gear into reverse and began backing out. Slowly but surely the car pulled out of the parking space.

"Zere seems to be no furzer problem. Come on Pyro." 

Pyro jumped into the car and they were off. The road leading to the exit of the lot was not as badly damaged as they had originally anticipated and they exited the building without much of a struggle. 

Pyro had always questioned Medic's driving skills which seemed to vary from completely insane driver to calm driver. However, the doctor seemed to sense that this was no time to be reckless much to Pyro's relief. They were now slowly driving down the highway, careful to avoid the disused cars and chunks of debris. Progress was slow.

"Whurr rr wrr grrrng?" Pyro finally asked. It was true that they had not really thought it through.

"Vat?" Medic was not really paying attention. "Did you say something?"

"Yrs, uh rskd yrr whurr wr rr grrng."

"Oh, uh... I have no idea. Maybe try to start again in anozer city or town, maybe find some quiet place vere ve can just live out ze rest of our days in peace. Yes, zat vould be nice, just you, me und no one else." Medic seemed a bit lost in thought.

"Yrr jrst wrnt trr frrlrw thr hrghwrr?" Pyro asked?

"I vould love to find a place zat is not crawling people or infected. I assume our best chance is just to follow zhe highvay like you said-oh gott!" He suddenly stopped the car.

"Wrrt?" Pyro got surprised at this action.

"Look at zat." Medic was pointing at a town in the distance. 

Pyro starred in the direction he was pointing at. "Rr mrr grrd." He saw two planes flying above a distant town. He could hear noise and see smoke. 

"Looks like anozer raid. I thought zey stopped doing zose but apparently I’ve been mistaken." 

Another two smaller planes flew in right over them. They instantly ducked behind the car as they passed.

"Wrr shrrld grt brrk rn thr crr." Pyro whispered with a worried tone, quickly getting into the passenger side of the car.

Medic followed, setting himself down in the driver's seat and they sped off. 

They had not been spotted. Good thing too. Soldier had told them stories about what happened to civilians who crossed paths with an armed official and it generally wasn't pretty. None of them had believed it until they saw it for themselves. Specialized personnel cornered all stray civilians into quarantine zones, if any of them showed signs of infection or any kind of illness they were pulled out of the crowd and shot on the spot. Those who were good to go were then released into cleared sections of the city. They were under constant surveillance and one step out of line was punishable by severe beating or death. 

It was best to just avoid people altogether.

\------------

It must have been late afternoon when Medic finally took an exit and left the highway. By then, they had cleared the more densely populated areas and were now entering more of a country like scenery. 

They stopped on the side of the road in order to run a check up on the car's fuel levels as well as do a bit of looting. Medic was no mechanic but he had watched Engineer work and had frequently worked with him, thus giving him a vague knowledge of automobiles. While the doctor was working on examining the car, Pyro waddled off with a bag to start looking for anything useful. This was a dangerous business. You could stumble upon infected anywhere in an area like this, they could jump at you as you open a car door, be trapped under wheels, or simply be limping around and walk right into you sort of like in a maze.

As Pyro looked into the vehicles, it was apparent that someone had already been here. He climbed up onto a truck to get a better view, the area seemed so familiar to him, he had already found the area to be familiar on the way here but dismissed it. He climbed down and kept walking. There were some corpses on the ground which were completely rotten, blown to pieces and stinking, even through the mask he could smell it. A lot of them had scorch marks on them as well as many of the cars. Following that trail he stumbled upon a particular item, it did not look like much, but once the snow was brushed off Pyro had no doubts as to what it was. In his hand, was what remained of a sticky bomb. He walked through the field of debris. He then found a second item, it was a flare gun. Looking up from his find, he saw the wreckage. He knew exactly where they were. This was the place where they had first been ambushed, the place where Demo and Sniper lost their lives. The arsonist now found himself staring at the burnt remains of Snipers van.

Medic had also had a feeling of slight discomfort in this place, he had no real idea as to why they had to stop in this specific place and not another. He had just finished filling up the fuel tank and sat on a piece of rock to wait for Pyro to return. After a little while, and still no sign of him, the doctor got up and began to call out.

"Pyro! Ze fuel tank is full ve can go now!" He called walking towards the general direction where the pyromaniac had headed in. "Pyro? Wo bist du?" Turning a corner he saw the fire starter standing still. Medic jogged over to Pyro's location. Upon arrival, the entire area smelled so foul it nearly made him want to vomit. He stared in horror at the sight before him. 

He approached the carcass of the vehicle now covered in snow.

"Pyro are you alri- Vait, zis is vere ve lost Sniper und Demoman. Have ve just made a huge circle?" Said the doctor in disbelief. 

 

It was February when Demoman, Sniper and Pyro had decided to go on a weapons run. They had told the team where they were going and headed off. Little did they know that they had been followed. Once they were on an isolated road, they were ambushed by a group of over six individuals. Sniper, who was driving, got taken by surprise and ran off the road and into a tree. 

Pyro was lucky and got ejected from the van by the sheer force of impact. About five seconds later the whole thing exploded taking everyone out with it. Pyro's flame retardant suit had shielded him from the worst of it but left him wounded none the less. The heat of the fire had almost melted his mask onto his face. Using his flare gun, he sent a signal to the others. He then blacked out before being recovered by Soldier, Heavy, Medic and Engineer. He might have died if Medic had not still had his medigun. Upon hearing of Sniper and Demo's death he was devastated.

 

Pyro was shaking, he had never wanted to come here again, he should have just gone back to the car. He refused to move any closer. 

Medic was peering into what left of the vehicle. The burnt remains of his comrades were still there, practically fused to the seats. Medic had not been there to witness the accident, but the sheer extent of the damage made him realize how bad it had been. He reached into the back of the wreck, pulling out what remained of a sniper rifle. The metal was extremely distorted but you could still see the shape.

"I had no idea zat it vas zis bad, Es tut mir so lied." He turned towards Pyro who had not moved. "Pyro?"

"Crrn wrr jrst grr." Said Pyro flatly.

Understanding Pyro's discomfort, he put the rifle back down and headed back towards the firebug. 

" I'm sorry, I just-"

"-Nrr rt's rrkuy. Rr jrrst drdrn't wrnt trr crrm hrr rrgrrn." He interrupted.

"Me neither, I did not know zat zis road led here. I'm sorry, I truly am." Continued Medic.

Pyro looked back at the remains, then back at Medic. He took the doctors hand for comfort. "Drrn't wrrry. Rt's nrrt yrr frrlt." They then walked back tot he car' got in and did and drove on. They drove past the sight of the tragedy and down the road.

Pyro fell asleep as Medic drove on. It was now getting dark and they had reached a small rural area. The doctor as well was beginning to fall asleep and is coughing and chills were getting more and more frequent. There were a number of small houses. They looked like they were in good condition. He made the decision to stop at one of them. He pulled up into the driveway and woke up the fire starter who sleepily exited the car. They would have to take advantage of the little light they had to search the house.

"Wrr drrd wrr strrp? Wrr rr wrr?" Asked Pyro sleepily.

"I'm falling asleep at ze veel plus, zis looks like a nice place. Ve can make sure it’s clear it und maybe even sleep inside." Replied Medic.

"Uh hrrv rr flrshlrght rf yrr wrnt." Pyro searched through a bunch of items sprawled over the back seat and taking out a flashlight.

" Zat is useful." Medic said while opening the door and peering inside. It was very dark inside so Pyro's flashlight would indeed come in handy. "Bring it forward. I can't see anything." 

Pyro gave Medic the flashlight as they carefully entered the house. It was not very big and had no basement. These features made it easier to search for signs of infected or other people. Everything was surprisingly neat and tidy. There was only one broken window and most of the rooms looked like they had not been touched since they had been cleaned apart from a layer of dust that now coated everything. It was most likely someone's secondary countryside residence.  
They checked all the rooms with no signs of anyone. The two walked back out to the car and brought whatever gear and provisions they had into the house, locked the car, barricaded the doors and went upstairs. 

Medic almost instantly collapsed onto one of the big beds in one of the rooms. He couldn't recall the last time he had had a warm blanket and a soft pillow under his head and the feeling was blissful. Pyro sat awkwardly on one of the chairs. All things considered, he did look a bit lost. 

 

"Don't look so nervous Pyro, zere is plenty of room! Unless you vant to sleep on ze floor I suggest you join me." Medic called out, moving over to one side of the bed.

On an ordinary day, Medic would have been disgusted at the idea of sleeping in a clean bed in filthy clothes, but this time he was too tired to think straight. Had they searched the house thoroughly enough? Had they made sure this was not someone else's camp? He would have to deal with that in the morning, they had completely secured the front door along with the room they were in so theoretically, they had no reason to worry.

Pyro hesitated at first but then took his place next to Medic who tossed him another blanket. He had not felt this warm in a long time, he took the blanket from the doctor and wrapped himself in it like a cocoon. Medic giggled at the sight. He had always found the pyromaniacs seemingly random actions to be a constant source of entertainment. Needless to say, the house was very cold, warmer than outside, but cold none the less and soon he too found himself wrapped in the covers up to his chin. Pyro was being quiet. It was impossible to tell if he had fallen asleep or not. 

As tired as Medic was he could not sleep and had a small distant longing for a proper, decent conversation. He waved a hand in front of the arsonists face out of curiosity. The masked man turned his head to face the doctor. 

"Wrrt?" Asked Pyro sleepily.

"Nozing, I vas just vondering if you vere avake or not. I did not intend to vake you." Medic replied. 

"Nrr, rr wrrsrn't slrrprrng drrn't wrrry. Rr yrr hrrvrrng trrbrl slrrprrng?"

"Me? Nein, I'm just a bit preoccupied but it's nozing vorry about." Despite his longing for discussion, he did not want to prevent the other man from sleeping."I zink zat after a good night sleep, ve vill both feel better ja?" Continued Medic who gave Pyro a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a small kiss on the forehead of the mask.

"Rrkuy. Grrd nrrght thrrn." Pyro said while hiding deeper under his set of covers.

"Gute nacht." Responded Medic, who closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.  
It didn't. Instead, after about an hour of tossing and turning about he sat up, got out of bed, took Pyro's flashlight and went to look around. Maybe find something to help him sleep. 

He exited the room. He wandered through the small hallway into the second room at the end. It was a bathroom. Medic shone the flashlight into it, for the first time in a year and three months, he saw what he looked like in a proper mirror or at least what he had become. 

He stared in disbelief at how filthy and sad he looked. He traced a finger over the few scars big and small that were now present on his face and frowned. Not only that but he had what looked like a mix of blood and dirt on his hands and parts of his face. He turned the tap on, hoping like an idiot that it would run water. The faucet sputtered and some brownish sludge splattered out into the sink. He shut the tap and instead, opened the window and grabbed some snow and put it in the sink bowl and let it melt then washed away the sludge as best as he could then refilling it again with more snow, he proceeded to wash his hands then his face leaving the water a murky color once he'd finished. He opened the medicine cabinet. Inside he found nothing of real use to him. Still not feeling sleep coming, he decided to continue exploring the place.

Walking down the stairs, he suddenly began to feel a bit cold. He saw no potential source for a draft then, glancing to his right he saw the broken window and just left it at that even though he had felt those same chills on the drive over. He wandered into the kitchen. On the table he found a note and several booklets and brochures, he picked up the note and read it to himself, it read;  
"Hi honey,  
I hope you and the kids had a safe trip over. I've cleaned up the place for your arrival, made the beds and everything. The neighbors were nice enough to leave behind some brochures they had laying around, maybe you can do a bit of visiting the area while waiting for me. See you in a couple weeks and have a lovely holiday!  
Lots of love,  
Mom."

The doctor put the note down and glanced at the fliers. They were all advertising various attractions in the area a well as some restaurants and other little things. 

"I guess zey never made it." He shrugged as he continued looking around. He spent the next half hour just opening closets and examining their contents. The place, as small as it was contained many comforts including a good supply of preserved foods and alcoholic beverages. They could get used to this comfort but that was also a problem. This place was too full of luxuries that simply had no more place in this world, even though he was not going to complain about it Medic feared that if they got too used to living like this, in the event of having to run away again, survival would be even harder and they would have to relearn everything.

The doctor had spent a good ten minutes sitting down on a chair thinking about this problem, finally, he felt his eyelids begin to feel heavy so he got up and returned to the room only to find that Pyro had completely taken over the bed and was now what looked to be a big pile of covers. Medic simply solved this problem by shoving Pyro back onto his side and retrieving his covers. The pyromaniac made a grumpy sounding noise to which Medic replied ,  
"You asked for it." And closed his eyes. He hadn't even begun to drift off before he felt himself being pulled into a hug-like hold. He had somehow known something like this would happen. Pyro had always been a very cuddly person, as in he liked to give and receive hugs. Back at RED, he would often give hugs at random. Medic would be working on a patient and suddenly have Pyro tackle him from behind, which had more than once caused him accidentally leave a scalpel or some other tool inside of the man he was healing. The point was, that sharing a bed with such an affectionate person could be considered a blessing and a curse but in this case Pyro had his head on the doctor's chest and was now sleeping peacefully. 

Medic rolled his eyes and smiled a bit before finally allowing sleep to get a hold of him. Besides, it was warmer like this and Medic was feeling the chills come back again, maybe they would be gone in the morning.

\-------------

Pyro woke up first. He felt good as new. He got out of bed, put on another layer of clothing and proceeded to go and see if there was any food already here or if he had to go and find some. Sure enough, there was. He rummaged through the cupboards until he found something to his liking. It was a can of some sort of chocolate pudding. He sat down at the table and saw the note that Medic had read the previous night, he also saw the brochures and various manuals. Once he had satisfied his sweet tooth, he went to explore the house a bit. Once that was done, he returned to the room to see if Medic was awake yet. Upon entering the room he heard sniffling and the occasional cough. Was Medic crying? No. It didn't sound like it. The fire lover approached him. No he wasn't crying. Instead he was buried him the blankets, shivering slightly as well as coughing from time to time but still sleeping. 

"Mrrdrrk?" Pyro shook the doctor slightly to get him awake. He was rewarded with a sneeze in the face.

Medic was awake now and was busy blowing his nose on a random pice of cloth he found within his reach. 

" Ach, sorry about zat. I have not been feeling vell since I voke up. Ze lack of proper sleep und freezing veather must have gotten to me." He continued with another cough, he voice a bit scratchy.

Pyro wiped his mask. "Rr yrr shurr yrr rrkuy? Drr yrr nrrd rrnrrthrng?" Pyro asked with concern.

Medic sniffed again. "Nein, I zink I vill live. I'm just going to stay in bed for bit longer." He said, nestling deeper under the covers. " It might escalate zough, und if it does, I need rest."

Pyro decided that it would be best to just let Medic rest, after all, he was a doctor and did know best about these things. If Medic is not worried about an illness, then Pyro shouldn't be either. 

"Drr yrr wrnt mrr trr grr?" He asked

"You don't have too, but I don't vant you getting sick as vell." Replied Medic sleepily.

Pyro nodded and went to get his jacket. They had arrived here late in the evening and had no big idea of where they were. He exited the room, grabbed a sturdy looking backpack and headed outside. It was not snowing anymore but what was there was almost knee high and a pain to walk in, at least he could see perfectly now. 

There were only six houses and most were as small as the one they were staying in. He trudged through the snow until he reached the last house. There were no cars anywhere and no sign of any people other than him and Medic, that was good. He entered the last house. The door was open. The layout was the same as theirs, one bedroom, a living room and kitchen, and a bathroom but it was in less good of a shape then theirs.

For starters, fifty percent of the windows were smashed in, covering the floor of the place in snow, ice and other debris. He misplaced his step and slipped on the frozen kitchen tiles, but caught himself on the counter before hitting the ground. He got back up and went up the stairs to the second floor. Walking into the bedroom of that house, he peered out of the window all he could see was white amongst the houses. He located there's a couple houses down. He left to go to the one next to it. 

Once in the bathroom, he peered through the window again. Just as he suspected, he could see straight into their room. He only barely could see Medic. He did not know if the doctor could see him if he looked over, but it sure was entertaining to be playing spy in an abandoned neighborhood. Speaking of spying, where was Spy? No one had seen him leave, they all woke up one morning and he was gone. Pyro pushed the question out of his mind. He had enough to worry about.

He had been wandering around aimlessly from house to house for at least a couple hours, and as much as he enjoyed not being on the run and being in a place with no infected in sight, he was quickly growing bored and cold. Some houses were well stocked and clean like the one they were in but most had suffered some sort of damage. He had filled his bag with some stuff he found which included a range of various knives and tools which he thought would be useful. Once back inside, he dumped his arsenal of tools on the table and went to check on Medic. 

He opened the door and did not like what he saw. The doctor was now shivering more and more as well as having an increased number of coughing fits. Pyro approached him and put a hand on his forehead. Even through his gloved he could feel the heat radiating from it. Medic had a fever. It was common to get sick out here and especially due to the cold weather, but any sign of illness was extremely unwelcome.

Pyro tapped the doctor's shoulder with the intention of waking him. Medic only responded by covering his face with his pillow. Pyro forcefully removed the pillow from the doctor. 

"Vat you vant?" Asked Medic sleepily.

"Yrr hrrv rr frrvrr!" Replied Pyro nervously.

"Ja, I know und don't yell I have such a bad headache."

"Wrrt hrprnd frr yrr trr grrt srrck lrrk thrrs?" 

"I told you before, most likely a lack of sleep, ze veather," he coughed again, "or I ate or drank something zat vas bad." He continued closing his eyes again.

"Thrrn rs thrr srrmthrrng rr crrn drr? Rr wrnt trr hrrlp yrr."

"Zis condition is highly treatable, all zat I need is sufficient amounts of vater und rest. I appreciate your concern, I truly do." He said before bursting into another coughing fit.

"Drr yrr wrnt mrr trr grrt wrrtrr?" Pyro said walking towards the exit.  
"Ja, danke Pyro." Replied Medic tiredly giving the firebug a small smile.

Pyro ran downstairs into the kitchen. He tried opening the tap but was rewarded with the same brown sludge that Medic had seen the night before. Pyro frowned, there was a cistern outside, he'd have to take care of that later. Looking again at the brownish substance spewing from the tap, he was beginning to question if maybe there was something in there that made Medic sick, but he had not seen him drink anything from there and he was a smart man who could tell if something was dangerous or not. 

But first things first.

He grabbed some snow on the windowsill, and let it melt in a bowl. He wished he could have boiled the water first but he had nothing inside which to start a fire or barely anything to start one with. He put the melted snow into a bottle and ran back upstairs. He handed it to Medic.

"Danke." He said, taking the bottle. "I should be back on my feet vith in a few days if all goes vell." 

"Yrr drrn't lrrk trr shcrrd." Said Pyro seating himself next to him.

" Nein, I'm not scared." He replied after taking a drink. "I'm not scared because ve are in an isolated area vith no infected so far und I have you vith me." He continued 

It was true that besides being stuck in bed to the point where he only got up to use the bathroom, the doctor still seemed to be in a rather optimistic mood.

Pyro was planing on asking about the sludge and now seemed to be as good a time as any.  
"Mrrdrrk?"

"Hmm?" The doctor had his eyes closed but was not sleeping.

"Whrrn rr rrprrnd thrr trp rn thr krtchrn, r brrwn lrrqurrd crrm rrt rf rt. Drr yrr knrr wrrt rt rs?" Pyro asked curiously.

Medic coughed a bit." Oh zat, it's nozing too dangerous. Remember ven ve vere stationed at Cold Front for ze first time? Zat place had old pipes vich had not been used for years, so zey simply rusted und accumulated dirt until someone used zem again." He took another drink of water. "Unless ze pipes are made of lead, ze sludge is not deadly." 

Pyro was relieved. 

"Vy did you vant to know?"

"Rr jrst thrrght thrt mrght hrrv brrn wrrt mrrd yrr srrck." 

"No don't vorry. I know better zen to drink zat." He replied.

As the day progressed, Pyro stayed by Medic's side. Even though the doctor slept most of the time, he still found him good company. Problems only really began to show themselves when he brought the doctor something to eat. That evening, Pyro had opened up a can of vegetables and had managed to make him eat some, but no sooner had he finished that he felt even worse and threw it all up. That was very alarming. Medic reassured Pyro by telling him it was a close to normal reaction to have and that they should just stick with liquids for now.

The next day, Pyro attempted to feed him soup which seemed to work out alright. He had gone all over the neighborhood and taken all the food, medicine, spare blankets, tools, anything that could help the doctor. He had found a small camping stove which he used to boil water and cook. Medic kept on telling Pyro that what he had was not going to kill him, even though he was beginning to suffer, he knew that he would make a full recovery. He had explained to Pyro countless times that what was happening to him was just going to disappear one day.

Three days passed, then four, then five. Medic showed no signs of major improvement. He was however, in great amounts of pain when moving around and had begun taking painkillers of which they had very few. They were beginning to run out of the few foods that the doctor could stomach. Medic himself was also beginning to doubt if he would indeed make a full recovery on what means they had available to them. He honestly was also beginning to question what he was actually suffering from. 

Pyro couldn't stand to watch him suffer. He had offered several times to go look for medicine and supplies in the closest city but Medic had stopped him every time. True, it was dangerous and they were pretty far from the closest town. He had even offered to bring Medic with him, he could sleep in the car while Pyro searched around. The doctor still refused. Pyro was sad. Sure they had found a nice quiet and peaceful place to live, but what if it ended up costing one of them their life? He could barely sleep because he was constantly woken up by either coughing or Medic needing water or something else. He had enough. 

One night Pyro had had enough of it. Medic needed help. He had spent the day making sure that he was as comfortable as possible as well as putting anything the doctor might need within arm's reach of him. He wasn't getting any better, or at least it didn't look like he was. The firebug had decided that despite the fact that Medic needed him here, Pyro thought he would have a greater chance if he went to look for some form of medicine, maybe something to reduce the fever as well as more painkillers and anti inflammatories. He had decided to take the car even though he had questionable driving abilities. Everything was set.

He had left Medic with enough supplies to him the two days he intended on being gone. Naturally, he had not told the doctor anything in fear of what he might say. Instead, he acted normally until night came. For the past three nights he had been sleeping on the floor to allow Medic the most room possible. He had made sure that everything was alright and curled up into his makeshift sleeping area and waited until Medic fell asleep. He slept for three or four hours before getting up, he slipped out leaving a small note and making sure all the entry and exit points to the house were securely blocked. He got in the car, turned on the headlights and drove off into the night. His plan went as followed: Spend no more than two days away, find the medicine, if he did not find anything within the delay he was to head straight back to Medic with no exceptions. He knew that driving at night was not safe, but had he left during the day he would have faced too much protest.

 

\-----------------

 

 

He turned onto the highway making sure to take note of every turn and road he took. The wind was picking up again making snow dance around the wheels as the car sped down the freeway. Pyro looked for exits indicating names of towns and after about two hours, he found one. Taking the exit, he drove into series of small streets. Eventually, he entered a small desolate looking town. It was well into the morning.

 

The pyromaniac parked the car in a sheltered location, took his bag and, put his gun in his pocket. Everything was eerily quiet. The snow was falling steadily into the ground and crunched under his shoes as he moved towards a small shop with its front window smashed in. He didn't even bother clearing the place as he sped through the different parts of the building until he found the closest thing to a pharmaceutical section he could see. Finding nothing, he gave a frustrated sigh and moved on to the next building with the same result.

By the time he stopped for a break, the sun was high above him. Pyro sat himself down behind a pile of what had most likely once been a wall. 

He rummaged through his bag to admire his finds. There were two small packets of aspirin as well as smaller quantities of bandages, plasters and a very small bottle of disinfectant. No where near enough to help Medic in any way. He took out his water bottle as well as a cereal bar and stared into the town below.

He had made sure to mentally cross out any place he had already visited and was set on finding anything he had missed. The sudden sound of small footsteps in the snow outside made him jump. He got up, moved close to the entrance of the ruins and waited there, gun in hand. It was not a human as he expected, it jumped right out in front of him tail wagging but suspicion in his eyes. It was a small black dog. Pyro was unsure of what to do, many of the once domesticated animals had become feral and were in many cases, depending on the species considered a threat even though most of them still avoided people. 

Dogs traveled in packs once again like wolves and having one in front of him stirred up mixed feelings, what should he do? Kill it? But then if he did others might come. The dog seemed to notice Pyro's discomfort and sniffed it's way over to where Pyro had left his stuff and poked its head into the bag frequently glancing back at the man. Pyro noticed this and ran over shooing it away from his supplies. 

"Grr rrwrr!" He yelled waving his arms at the animal who jumped and ran a few feet away then stopped to look at Pyro again. 

Pyro put his back pack back on and stared at the little creature as it began to walk closer to him before stopping just a meter away.

Pyro softened a bit and put his hand out to the dog who sniffed at it suspiciously. Seeing no visible signs of aggression, he decided to try and pet the dog's head. It let him do so. This dog didn't seem to have a pack, and looked well fed, maybe it had only just escaped a human? Or it's human companion had died? Pyro had seen people in cities use dogs for hunting and finding infected or other people, if trained they could be very helpful. Releasing the dog he remembered he had a job to do. 

 

Finishing his cereal bar he turned back towards the dog and said; "Don't follow me." Before placing the mask back over his mouth and walking back into the town. The dog followed none the less and trotted after Pyro at a safe distance. 

Turning a corner Pyro stumbled upon a group of two infected, he swiftly smashed one's skull in with a brick and bashed the other against a wall until it stopped moving. He was in no mood to be dealing with them now. He looked back, the dog was still there looking at him. 

"Wrrt drr yrr wrnt? Rr hrrv nrrthrrng frr yrr." He said wiping the blood off himself. 

The dog just sat down and cocked its head slightly. At this point it's presence did not bother him and it clearly was not intent on leaving him anytime soon, maybe the company would do him some good. He walked up to the dog who suddenly seemed a bit more frightened than before but calmed down once Pyro put a hand on it's neck to examine what remained of a name tag. There was nothing legible in it just rust and the vague remains of a phone number.

He got back up, and headed down the streets and into buildings with the dog not far behind.

\---------

 

\---------

Earlier that same morning, Medic woke up. He had to admit that he did feel a little bit better than the night before, that was excellent. For one, he didn't have a terrible headache anymore and he moving wasn't as painful as it previously was. He peered over the bed to where Pyro's bedroll was. Seeing a pile of blankets, Medic assumed that he was still asleep and decided to allow him at least that. Feeling the chills and need to cough come back again, he rolled himself back into the covers and fell back asleep. Another day in bed, he thought dully. 

\-------

As the day slowly came to an end, Pyro had finished salvaging anything useful from that town. He had managed to find enough medicine to help but not to cure completely which made him slightly angry but at least it was something. As the last moments of daylight faded, the pyromaniac took out his flashlight and turned it on as he made his way back to the car. He could return to Medic by morning if he drove through the night. 

The pale yellow light flickered a bit, indicating low battery power  
.  
Pyro broke into a small run with his new found friend close at his heels as he navigated through the houses. Everything looked the same now, and Pyro was beginning to worry when at last he saw vehicle in the distance.

As he approached it, the dog began to growl. Pyro had always been good with animals and he knew that something was not right. 

He looked at the dog who now had his teeth bared and was spinning around in circles. He shone his flashlight into the car, saw nothing, then shone it around the forest area that surrounded the town. Something was moving in a bush, no several things were, the dog was now frantic and in Pyro's mind his first thought was to get to shelter.

He opened the car and the dog immediately jumped inside without hesitation and Pyro followed immediately. He put the makeshift curtains over the windows and peeked outside. What he saw was terrifying. 

It was a herd but bigger than the one that claimed Heavy, or so it seemed, it was difficult to tell from the position he was in. He clamped his hand over the dog's muzzle to stop him from growling.

Masses of slouching, limping figures passed by them as Pyro did his best to keep as quiet as possible. Occasionally one or two would bump into the car and emit a screech or moan of annoyance or pain and just keep walking. Pyro crept onto the front seat and peered into the rear view mirror. He would have a hard time getting out of there if he tried starting the car. Deciding to wait it out, he braced himself for a long night. He reclined the seat and lifted his legs onto the dashboard. Looking out the window one last time, his foot slipped and hit the horn which suddenly emitted a loud shrill noise. 

He froze. 

It seemed as if all had gone silent. Then, there was banging on the Windows and doors as the masses of bodies piled onto the vehicle screeching, growling and clawing. 

"Shrrt, shrrt,shrrt!" Pyro breathed as he heard the glass on the windshield began to crack. 

Looking around, frantic for a way out, he saw no further alternative than to open the door and attempt an escape he looked around for the door that was the less crowded. He pulled the handle and counting down from three put his backpack on and kicked open the door knocking several infected onto the floor. 

The dog instantly bolted out as Pyro ran for his life while the living corpses clawed at his legs, arms and chest slowing him down by the second. He shot several shots at those closest to him before running out of bullets completely.

The area around him was clearing up but running in the snow was getting to be more of a strain than ever but adrenaline rush and determination pushed him on. The snow was getting thicker and it was getting harder to run as well as the wind pushing him back, Pyro was beginning to doubt he could run much further. Not long after, he could run no more. 

He stopped and looked around trying to adjust his eyes to the dark. He had no idea where he had run to. He didn't know if the herd was still after him. The lack of noise told him that no, they had abandoned chase. The dog was also nowhere to be seen.

Pyro opened his backpack and took out his flashlight. Shining it in the direction he thought he came in, decided to keep walking. The wind and snow did not seem to be stopping anytime soon. As he walked the area around him because more and more wooded, he had absolutely no idea of where he was. Not long later, something fought the corner of his eye, moving towards the silhouette, he hoped that it would be a person or maybe a sign indicating a shelter or anything that could potentially be helpful. That is how desperate he was to get out of the cold. 

Moving up towards it, he saw it was not what he had expected but a deer. It was hung from a tree with its insides ripped out as well as most of its flesh, the carcass was frozen solid and swayed eerily in the wind, it had clearly been there for a while. Pyro backed up not noticing the danger behind him and SNAP! 

 

Pyro screamed in agony as he felt a crushing force around his lower leg, he fell to the ground in pain clutching at wound attempting to pry off whatever it was that had caught him but in vain.

Reaching for the dying flashlight and directing it towards his foot, he saw the carnage. It was a snare, but not just any, a bear trap, a massive, crushing set of metallic jaws that were now wrapped around his ankle, sharp teach ripping through the fabric and shredding the flesh underneath. 

The snow was stained red.

Lifting up his mask and putting the flashlight between his teeth all while fading in and out of consciousness, he gripped the flashlight in his teeth and tried to pry open the device again and again.  
He screamed against the flashlight as every movement seemed to only be worsening the situation and churning the teeth into the wound.

Pyro was terrified, he couldn't die here, he had to get the medicine back to Medic, he just had to. Then they could be together again, healthy and happy, well as healthy as one could get in a time like this. 

With a final pull, the trap relinquished its grip on the pyromaniacs leg. Pyro gave a few shakes breaths before blacking out.

 

\---------

It was in the evening that Medic woke up with a cold sweat. He looked over the bed to where Pyro was supposed to be, the pile of blankets had not moved. This time the doctor had a sinking feeling that something was not right. He clumsily got out of bed and walked over to Pyro's bedroll and removed the blankets. Pyro was not there. Medic called out in through the house. 

"Pyro?" 

No response.

"Pyro, vere are you?" Medic continued his voice raspy and tired. He had suddenly recovered a lot, but not to the extent of being one hundred percent functional.

There was still no answer. 

Medic felt fear levels rise, he knew that Pyro had desperately wanted to go find him some medicine but Medic had thought that his warnings and begging him to stay would have made the smaller man reason that the doctor needed him here.

The doctor waddled down the stairs and towards the window overlooking the driveway where the car had been parked. It was gone. No trace of it, even the tracks were gone. How long had he been gone? For a while obviously. Either that, or it had snowed a lot in his absence. Medic ran back upstairs and and grabbed all the clothing layers he could put on and prepared to go out. His eyes then set on the note that Pyro had left him on the back of a water bottle. 

The handwriting was not the clearest to read but Medic read it out loud to himself;

"Dear Medic,  
I vent to find you medicine. You need it. Vill be gone for two days or less, I left you vater und food for ze duration of my leave. Don't vorry.  
-Love Pyro"  
Medic put down the piece of paper and sat back on the bed and put his face in his hands. His headache was coming back again. Looking outside he determined that looking for Pyro now would be suicide, especially in his state of health, needless to say that he did feel much better now but he still needed rest, he would wait until morning then go out to look for Pyro. 

He only prayed that he was safe. After all, Pyro may have been childish but he sure wasn't stupid, he knew to stay sheltered and he knew to be careful. Medic kept telling himself this as he attempted to sleep through until morning. He would look for Pyro first thing. 

\-----------

It was cold, very cold, then there was warmth. A small light, like a fire, not a blazing fire but a small, nice, comfortable, glowing fire. Pyro found himself walking towards it. Getting closer, he heard laughing and happy sounding noises.

One by one, figures appeared, they were very blurry but the voices were clear. They were the voices of his teammates along with others he had trouble recognizing. 

The room was filled with a warm glow as the figures became clearer. He bumped into one of them, looking up, he saw it was Soldier. The fire starter backed up in disbelief, not two seconds ago he was in the snow, cold and hurt but now he was with his friends again. Soldier looked down and smiled. 

Turning around,he saw Engineer, Demo, Sniper, Scout, Spy, even Heavy and Medic. They were all there and all seemed to be having a fun time and inviting Pyro to join in. He felt like he could cry and he did, hot tears streamed down his face and he took a seat next to them. A hand was placed on his shoulder and a voice echoed," It's a party my friend! Have fun! Ve taught zose Blu's a lesson zey vill never forget! "

It was hard not to recognize that the voice belonged to Medic. 

"You said it! Fantastic performance out there! You all did me proud." That was Soldier.

Pyro was still crying tears of joy. They were all here, together again. 

Then the fire started to flicker and slowly fade. The people, around were also fading, slowly. They all stood up, their smiles not leaving their faces as they followed the light. 

Engineer turned back, he was almost completely gone. Reaching out a hand he asked, "You comin' with us Py?" 

Pyro stood up and walked towards them only to be stopped by some invisible force. Engineer then turned around and faded away with the others along with the warmth and the light. 

Pyro was then sucked into a black void before suddenly being propelled back into reality.

He opened his eyes.

He was back in the snow, the wind was howling all around him.He felt himself getting sleepy. He tried to fight it. He couldn't let Medic down, but the feeling of warmth was flooding back to him.

A place he had not been to in a really long time, the pink fluffy clouds along with the music and laughter that followed dragged him in. Pyroland was it? Yes that was it. 

This time it was the Balloonicorn that came to him. It hovered around, dancing in the rainbows.  
"Come and play with us!" It squeaked as it bounced off into the distance. "Follow me!" 

Something deep in Pyro's mind was still fighting but the rest had given up. In his mind everything was so warm, so free, so did not want to go back into the snow.

Opening his eyes just a crack.

Maybe, he thought, just maybe if he had stayed with Medic back at that house, if he had not left, they would both still be alive.

Now they would both die, or if not, now Medic would be alone.

He'd failed him.

The one person that Pyro had ever felt any extreme attachment to, the man who had let him into his heart, the man with whom he had gone through so much. He loved this man.  
Every effort he made to move felt like someone was twisting a dagger in his spine.  
He could see the sun begin to rise in the distance. 

"I'm so sorry." He sighed, before closing his eyes for the last time.

\-----------

When Medic opened his eyes, he felt good as new, well not perfect but good enough to go outside. He packed all his essential belongings, as well as enough supplies to last him a week or more if he rationed intensely. He went downstairs and tried to open the door. It was locked and blocked. Pyro had known that Medic would try to come after him if he had figured out his disappearance, so locking him in seemed like the best solution. Medic decided to climb out the window instead. 

The cold struck himt. It was freezing. He had no idea where to start looking. 

Coughing a bit, he started down the series of roads leading up to the highway. Walking was painful. He told himself that if he had not found anything by nightfall, he would return to the house. 

He was scared. He feared for Pyro's life. He had no doubt that Pyro was still alive but he had a sinking feeling telling him that something somehow had gone terribly wrong. He finally found what looked like the vague indent of tire tracks in the snow. They were mostly covered but Medic had no other leads, honestly they could have been anything. He followed them. 

As the day progressed, there was less and less track to follow. He was cold and aching by the time he had reached the end of them. He walked on a bit further until he saw another set of tracks merge in with those he had been following which continued a bit further up. These tracks were fresh and were definitely not made by an ordinary civilian car, maybe a tractor perhaps? But who would be driving a tractor out here and especially now? The thought was stupid. 

He decided to follow them as well. They led off the highway and into a wooded area. Making sure to lay low, he continued to follow them until they too came to an end. The cracked tarmac soon gave way to a small town. Everything in it was a mess and not to mention, he could hear the sounds of infected creeping through the place. Surely Pyro had not passed through here let alone stayed the night. Silently creeping through the streets, he passed by rows and rows of bodies, those of infected. This must have been a herd but someone had been there to fight them off and won by the looks of it. There were bullets on the ground, puddles of blood and debris. 

This was definitely a group effort no one, no matter how strong could take on this many at once and live to tell the tale. 

At this point he was wondering if he should even be here, maybe he should have stayed back at the house and just waited. He turned a corner and saw something that made had only confirmed his fears, he saw the car, it was full of dead bodies some so full of holes you could not have been able to recognize it as a human being. 

All windows were smashed and there were bullet holes in the sides of the vehicle. He ran up to it, opened the door and looked for any trace indicating that Pyro was still inside. He pulled away all the rotting, now snow covered corpses and entered the car. He searched and found nothing but a few wrappings and rags. 

The doctor was scared but relieved at the same time, this meant that Pyro had made it out. There were no signs of a crash so the chances of him being injured were low, unless... Medic did not want to think about the possibility of him being injured by a mutant like Heavy had. Getting out of the car, he searched the surrounding area for tracks, not vehicle but human tracks, anything that could indicate him as to where Pyro had run to. Nothing. 

Whatever there was had been covered and all that remained was the bloody mess that someone had left behind. It was very likely that Pyro had been walking home. Through an alternative route possibly, at least that is what Medic thought. 

Getting back into the car and pushing the last of the corpses out of the way, he decided to try and see it it still worked. He turned the key in the ignition but it did not start. The doctor figured that the only remaining option was to walk home and wait and see. Going out into the woods was not a good idea and right now there was no use hurting himself if there was a potentially injured Pyro waiting for him back at the house. 

Before leaving, just in case, he took the car key, wiped the snow off of the side of the car and carved in the words, "PYRO COME HOME". At least that way, if Pyro did come back here he would know that there was someone waiting for him.

\----------

Late in the night a figure crawled in through a window. The walk home had been long and cold. Medic called out once again. Maybe Pyro had arrived. No. There was no one. The house was as empty as he had left it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue:

One day passed. Then a week. After that, a month. Two months then three. Pyro never came back. 

No matter how many times he had gone looking, no matter how many times he cursed himself for not seeing this coming, it was too late. 

The snow had melted leaving behind lush green tufts of grass and vegetation which began to reclaim the remains of human settlements as sunlight and and a sweet cool breeze replaced the harsh winds of winter. Medic had waited. He had been patient, but now he knew that it was time to face reality. Pyro was gone and he wasn't coming back. He knew that now. Maybe he was still alive, maybe he had found a place where he could be his old silly self again or maybe he was being kept prisoner, somewhere far beyond the doctor's reach. 

He was tired, there were barely any useful supplies left in the house and he had not been bothered to go look for some more. His days were now mainly spent sitting, inside or outside it didn't matter. He barely slept, spoke or did anything for that matter. His mind was just a blur. People had passed by the neighborhood. The doctor entertained himself by visually assessing people's health from afar on a scale of one to ten. Every group seemed to look worse than the last. 

Sunlight seeped through the thick tree canopy, occasionally blinding the doctor as he walked. He had found that the only way to keep himself from falling to pieces was to take walks. Now, even that didn't seem to be working. He didn't want to have to live in a world like this on his own, maybe when he was younger he could have convinced himself to go on, that there was so much more to be discovered but now he just didn't see the point. 

Leaves and twigs crackled and crunched under his boots as he moved deeper and deeper into the woods. He had no idea what kept him walking. The dark thoughts lingered as he arrived back at his camp, he stopped right in front of the door, he took a moment to rethink his options. He had waited too long.

If Pyro were still here, he would have come back by now. He had to accept that no matter what he had thought before. Now the doctor’s own survival was a stake. If he didn't move on, he too would die, but on the other hand was it better to live alone in this hell hole or to simply let go. The second option seemed all too inviting. No. He couldn’t. 

He was the Medic, last surviving member of the RED mercenary team, reputed for his lack of empathy and never ending blood lust. He had watched his eight companions die in front of his own eyes. 

He had survived numerous encounters with the undead. He was still alive.

He could survive.


End file.
